Forex Daily Recap – Market Stood Uninterested To Poor US Housing Data Amid Good Friday Holiday
EUR/USD
On the previous day, the pair faced steep 0.48 percent fall following the release of robust US Retail data. Today, the EUR/USD continued to stay in the same lower vicinity near 1.1246 levels. The silent behavior of the pair gets discounted to the light event calendar amid Good Friday holiday. There remained hardly any significant movement generating event during the day. At 08:00 GMT, the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica published the Italy Business Confidence Index for April (low volatile event). The street analysts already had a bearish outlook on this business index. They expected the reports to come 0.099 percent lower than the previous 100.8 points. However, the actual reports recorded as 100.6 points, even below the expected 100.7 points.
EURUSD 60 Min 19 April 2019
Nonetheless, the euro pair showed no/less response to this disappointing number and remained in 1.1245/48 levels. Also, during the European trading session, the lower-than-expected US Housing data failed to impact the EUR/USD. It was quite surprising to monitor the apathetic euro pair amid weak US reports. Among the rivals, the EUR/USD had always remained the biggest gainer on greenback weakness. Somehow, things didn’t work as per expectation today.
USD Index
Yesterday the greenback had shown many gaps while on the upward rally amid fabulous US Retail figures. Those gaps resembled high interest among the buyers. However, today several gaps got noticed in the downward rally showing keen interest among the sellers. The USD Index that computes the greenback against the major rival currencies opened on Friday morning near 97.42 levels. The event calendar remained light for the day. However, the US Census Bureau broadcasted the March Housing Data.
And, following a sparse US housing data, the US Dollar dropped around ten pips reaching near 97.33 levels. The March MoM Housing Starts reported 1.139 million in comparison to the 1.230 million forecasts. At 12:30 GMT, another Housing data got released revealing the March MoM Building Permits figure. This time, the Building Permits number reported 31 million below the market expectation of 1.300 million. The greenback was trading near 97.37 levels at around 17:45 GMT, hardly 6-7 pips down for the day.
USD/JPY
The safe-haven pair remained consolidated just below the top 112 levels. During the day, the pair showcased low volatility on the backdrop of no significant economic event. In the early Asian trading session, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) addressed its ¥20-160 billion purchase reductions of bonds. BoJ especially highlighted the purchase cuts on bonds having maturities between 10 to 25 years.
USDJPY 60 Min 19 April 2019
Despite that, the USD/JPY gave less attention to the bank’s announcement and remained constant near 111.93 levels. And, while looking into the weekly performance, the USD/JPY remained within the range of 111.80 levels and 112.15 levels.
USD/RUB
The ruble pair rang the Friday morning bell near 63.90 levels, from where it soared reaching 64.03 levels. The rise in the pair gets discounted to the fall in the Russian Ruble amid series of fixed-coupon OFZ auctions occurred this year. However, the pair remained settled near 63.95 levels until the European session. Somehow, the USD/RUB made a slight upward movement marking the day’s high near 64.05 levels.